Typhoon Morakot: 'I saw woman and baby swept away'

Biung is an Aboriginal Taiwanese who lives in the mountain village of Min Sheng, Namasia, Taiwan. He and his family were among the survivors of typhoon Morakot – the worst typhoon Taiwan has seen in 50 years. He talks about the nightmarish ordeal he and his family had to go through to survive

My family and I were among the lucky survivors of typhoon Morakot that hit my village in Namasia. It was at about 4pm on August 7 2009, while I was relaxing with my family at home when the first landslide occurred. I heard a thundering sound coming from outside. When I rushed outside I saw falling boulders and mudslides rolling toward my house. I lost no time in warning my family and we all rushed outside the house. There were many houses located above us in the mountain terrain and they were torn apart by falling rocks and mud.

My friend Bani who lives below my house was shouting at me. He said that he had water up to his waist in his house and any moment it might get fully submerged with water. My house was also hit by falling rocks and mud, but I had an iron gate which reduced the impact. But then, in front of my eyes my house was destroyed. I knew that we would risk our lives by staying there any longer, so we ran down to the church at the lowest part of the village.

On our way down we had to be careful of slippery terrain and avoid getting hit from falling rocks. By the time we reached the church we were totally exhausted. A lot of other villagers were gathered there and we felt safe, for a short time, in their company. But soon all the villagers assessed the situation and we felt that it was unsafe to remain in the church for much longer. Any moment it might be hit by boulders from above. We decided that we should try to reach a local elementary school located just outside the town. It would be much safer down there.

Namasia township was recently renamed from its original name San Ming. It has three villages: Min Chuan, Minzu and Minshen. We bundled in a vehicle and managed to reach the next village in Minzu. From the southernmost village of Minzu we drove along the Nantzuhsien River and crossed the river twice to reach Minshen village.

I had my brother and his family with us. My brother's wife Ebu was in the last stage of pregnancy, in utter distress and pain. The heavy downpour and strong wind created obstacles throughout our journey, such as dangerous potholes. I had seen many typhoons in the past, but sensed that this one was different and dangerous.

I had lived all my life in the mountains and the only time spent time outside Namasia, was my three-year stint as a paratrooper. I was used to being marooned without electricity, water and no contact with the outside world for days. The aboriginals from Namasia are very tough people and we are proud of it.

After reaching Minshen village we spent a night on the third floor of the township office building. I and my family could hardly sleep. Though there was a river some distance from our building, it was close to overflowing. We watched the swelling river, which was a swirling heap of mud, trees and boulders. My wife Na'u felt that our building was shuddering, we could hear 'bong bong" as boulders crashed against it. She and the kids were up the whole night in utter fear.

After spending a restless night our small group of tired refugees moved to other side of Minzu village. There we took shelter on the third floor of a friend's house, just above a church.

At about 10.50pm Minzu village slid from where the elementary school was situated, below to the lowest village. Everything happened in five seconds. There was no warning. Later I saw those who survived the horrifying mudslide – they were frantically searching through the debris and mud for their loved ones and relatives. About 27 bodies were recovered. The desperate villagers kept looking for beneath fallen boulders and debris, digging underneath the mudslide for two days. There was no let up in the torrential rain, wind and mudslides.

I was witness to an unfortunate incident. I saw a woman running down the street holding a baby in her arms. In no time she was swept away by a mudslide. I knew this woman and I regret deeply that I was helpless, unable to do anything to save her. The memory of that woman still keeps haunting me.

I realized that Minzu was very unsafe since it was cut off on both sides by the swelling rivers. I decided to shift my family up the mountain to a safer place in a flat area known locally as Ping Tai. There were other people with us. Making our way up the mountain was the most difficult task. The strong ones carried the weak on our backs. I carried my kids on my back and had to keep telling my wife to push on. It was matter of life and death for us.

On reaching Ping Tai we heaved a huge sigh of relief. We decided to stay there until help came to us, even though we were drenched and shivering. About 300 of us spent the nights in bitter cold. We were hungry as well because there was no food. On the fourth day of our ordeal the army managed to reach us and on August 14 we were flown out in a helicopter. My family and I were some of the lucky survivors among 3,000 residents of Namasiya, but I feel sad for those who lost their lives.

Now, my family and I are being housed in Fo Guang Monastery in Kaohsiung country. We are being taken good care of, but we worry because we have our house, have no money and face a bleak future.

• Biung was speaking to journalist Rajen Nair, with the help of a Taiwanese mediator Rich Matheson